History of OLV

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to carry out all that I have commanded of you, and know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.”

Our Lady of Victory Parish is a part of the Roman Catholic Church. By the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, members of the Church are promised eternal life and are equipped to serve God and their neighbor, according to the gifts and talents which each of them have received. In this way, we worship God in Spirit and Truth and welcome his Kingdom into our hearts and into the world.

OLV PARISH HISTORY

The Founding

In the early 1830's, the Roman Catholics of Delhi had to make a day's trip to attend Mass at Holy Trinity downtown. At that time, Delhi stretched from Seton Ave. in Price Hill all the way west through Sayler Park. This was quite a hardship for the mostly farmers of the township. On February 2, 1834, a small, determined group met at the house of Philip Owens and named themselves the Catholic Society of Delhi Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. Fr. John Martin Henni, from Holy Trinity, would make trips to rural areas, including Delhi, to say Mass. For eight years, they met at homes of the parishioners in order to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass.

The First Structure

In 1842, Adam Emge donated 1/2 acre of land on Rapid Run (near present day Stonebridge) and the needed logs to finally build their church. The church was also used as a school; the people understood the importance of educating their children in the Catholic tradition. The first building of the church makes Our Lady of Victory the oldest parish in Hamilton County outside of the city. The parish was dedicated to St. Stephen for his perseverance in faith. Thrilled with their accomplishment, the parishioners still longed to make the church more accessible. The inconvenience of the log church’s location in the woods caused the parishioners, spurred on by their recent success victory, to begin looking for a new home.

A New Home

In 1852, Blaise Schwietzer and John Gierteisen donated land on Neeb Road. From March 18th to the 22nd, the parishioners migrated the wooden church, log by log, to its new home. The church was ready for Mass on March 23, 1852, but soon, they ran out of space. On July 10, 1853, they laid the cornerstone for the first brick church, keeping the log building to serve as a school. Fr. Engelbert Stehle asked the church be dedicated to Our Lady of Victory because he had been ordained at the Our Lady of Victory Cathedral in Paris, France. Maria Zum Siege (Mary of Victory) was dedicated on December 4, 1853. The parish continued under the name of St. Stephen's, even though the church was called Maria Zum Siege, then Our Lady of Victories, and finally Our Lady of Victory.

As the parish continued to grow, another brick church was built in 1908. As that church fell into disrepair, and the parish grew still larger, our current church was built in 1979. During the transition between the 1908 and 1979 church, mass was held in the East Wing, now the main office in the school.